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Tag: Amber Heard

  • At long last, jury gets closing arguments in Depp trial

    By Associated Press

    FAIRFAX: A jury is scheduled to hear closing arguments Friday in Johnny Depp’s high-profile libel lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard.

    Each side will have two hours to summarize their case in a trial that has stretched on for six weeks. With broadcast cameras in the courtroom, a celebrity trial that garnered intense interest from the outset has only gained momentum as fans have weighed in on social media and lined up overnight for coveted courtroom seats.

    Depp is suing Heard for $50 million in Virginia’s Fairfax County Circuit Court over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” His lawyers say he was defamed by the article even though it never mentioned his name.

    Heard filed a $100 million counterclaim against Depp after his lawyer called her allegations a hoax.

    Depp says he never struck Heard and that she concocted the abuse allegations to gain an advantage in divorce proceedings.

    Heard testified about more than a dozen episodes of physical and sexual assault that she said Depp inflicted on her.

     

  • Amber Heard ends testimony asking Johnny Depp to ‘leave me alone’

    By PTI

    US: Amber Heard told jurors Thursday that a harassment campaign waged against her by ex-husband Johnny Depp has left her humiliated and scared for her life from multiple death threats, and said she just wants, ‘Johnny to leave me alone’. Heard was expected to be the final witness in the six-week libel trial Depp brought against his ex-wife.

    With cameras in the courtroom, millions of people have followed the trial, and interest seemed to gain momentum as the weeks went on and both Depp and Heard testified about the ugly details of their relationship.

    Online and at the courthouse, Depp’s fans have overwhelmingly dominated the narrative, with groupies lining up overnight to get one of the few spots in the courtroom and wave at Depp as he walks in and out. Heard has been booed by spectators on the street as she enters and leaves the courthouse.

    “The harassment and the humiliation, the campaign against me that’s echoed every single day on social media, and now in front of cameras in the showroom, every single day I have to relive the trauma,” Heard said as she fought back tears.

    “Perhaps it’s easy to forget I’m a human being. Depp is suing Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as ‘a public figure representing domestic abuse.’ His lawyers say he was defamed by the article even though it never mentioned his name.

    Heard said she hopes the lawsuit will allow her to regain her voice, and said she had the ‘right as an American’ to publish an article that described her experiences and how they relate to the national debate over domestic violence.

    “Johnny has taken enough of my voice,” she said. “I have the right to tell my story.” Depp has denied he ever struck Heard, and says she was the abuser in the relationship. Heard has testified about more than a dozen separate instances of physical abuse she says she suffered at Depp’s hands.

    The final witness Thursday morning for Depp’s side was a hand surgeon, Richard Gilbert, who said he thinks the injury that occurred to Depp’s middle finger could have occurred as Depp describes it. The tip of the finger was severed during a fight the couple had in Australia. Depp says it occurred when Heard threw a large vodka bottle at him.

    Heard says Depp did it to himself in a drug-fuelled rage on a night when he also sexually assaulted her with a liquor bottle.

  • Kate Moss denies rumour Johnny Depp once pushed her down the stairs, court hears

    By IANS

    LOS ANGELES: Supermodel Kate Moss appeared at Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s $100 million defamation lawsuit via video link to deny rumours that her ex-boyfriend had pushed her down the stairs.Heard, 36, previously referenced the model during the ongoing court case, when she discussed an alleged altercation between Depp and her sister, Whitney Henriquez, saying: “(Whitney’s) back was to the staircase, and Johnny swings at her. I don’t hesitate, I don’t wait – I just, in my head, instantly think of Kate Moss and stairs.”When asked in court by Benjamin Chew, a member of Depp’s legal team, if the 58-year-old Hollywood actor had ever pushed her down the stairs while they were dating, Moss replied: “No, he never pushed me, kicked me or pushed me down any stairs.”She told the court how during a holiday in Jamaica with Depp he had picked her up and “got (her) medical attention” after she had fallen down some stairs.She explained: “We were leaving the room and Johnny left the room before I did. There had been a rainstorm and as I left the room I slid down the stairs. I hurt my back. And I screamed because I didn’t know what had happened to me and I was in pain. He came running back to help me, carried me to my room and got me medical attention.”Moss, who gave evidence in less than five minutes, was not cross-examined by Heard’s team. Heard first made the allegation during her testimony in the UK in 2020. She said at the time: “I remembered information I had heard [that] he pushed a former girlfriend – I believe it was Kate Moss – down the stairs. I had heard this rumour from two people and it was fresh in my mind.”But Depp’s legal team were seen pumping their fists when she first mentioned Moss’ name during the ongoing defamation case in Fairfax, Virginia. The reference gave them the opportunity to call the model as an impeachment witness to disprove the allegation. Moss previously shared it took her years to overcome the heartache of her split from Depp.She said: “There’s nobody that’s ever really been able to take care of me. Johnny did for a bit. I believed what he said. Like if I said, ‘What do I do?’, he’d tell me. And that’s what I missed when I left. I really lost that gauge of somebody I could trust.”The explosive court case has been taking place over the last few weeks after Depp sued his ex-wife Heard for $50 million over a 2018 op-ed in which she recalled being a victim of domestic abuse.

  • Witness for Johnny Depp cryptically contradicts key Amber Heard witness

    By Associated Press

    FALLS CHURCH: Jurors in Johnny Depp’s libel lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard heard a snippet of testimony Tuesday contradicting one of Heard’s key witnesses, but much of the context was stripped away.

    Jennifer Howell — who once employed Heard’s sister, Whitney Henriquez — testified briefly Tuesday in the six-week civil trial through a recorded deposition.

    Depp is suing Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” His lawyers say he was defamed by the article even though it never mentioned his name.

    Depp has denied he ever struck Heard and says she was the abuser in the relationship. Heard has testified about more than a dozen separate instances of physical abuse she says she suffered at Depp’s hands. Howell testified that she sent an email in 2020 to Henriquez begging her to tell the truth.

    Jurors, though, did not see the letter, nor did Howell explain in what way she thought Henriquez was being untruthful. The edited deposition played in court for less than 15 minutes — Howell appeared to walk out of the deposition before lawyers had completed their questioning.

    In a court document, though, Howell goes into much greater detail. She gives a four-page declaration in which she says Henriquez confided in her that Heard was the aggressor in the fight and Henriquez allegedly said she thought Heard “was going to kill Johnny.”

    Howell also says in the declaration that Henriquez told her and others in their workplace that Heard cut off Depp’s finger in a fight the couple had in Australia. The severed finger has been a point of dispute throughout the trial. Depp says the finger was severed when Heard lobbed a vodka bottle at him. Heard says Depp did it to himself on a night when he was in a drunken rage and sexually assaulted her with a bourbon bottle.

    Henriquez is the only one of Heard’s witnesses who testified in the six-week trial that she personally witnessed Depp physically assault Heard, in a fight where she said each landed blows on the other while she was caught between the two.

    It’s not entirely clear why Howell’s testimony was so limited. Throughout the trial, though, Judge Penney Azcarate has strictly enforced rules limiting hearsay evidence, and Howell’s description of what Henriquez told her would likely be a classic example of hearsay unless Depp’s lawyers could claim some sort of exception to the hearsay rule.

    ALSO READ| Johnny Depp’s severed finger story has flaws: Surgeon

    In Howell’s declaration, she acknowledged that she was upset when she learned that Heard had pledged millions of dollars to the American Civil Liberties Union and a children’s hospital, when Howell thought the money could do more good at The Art of Elysium, the nonprofit she ran and that had employed Henriquez.

    The limited nature of Howell’s testimony makes it unclear if jurors will draw the connections that Depp’s team hopes to make.

    Howell testified as a rebuttal witness for Depp after Heard rested her case Tuesday morning without calling Depp to the stand — Heard’s lawyers had initially suggested they would call Depp as a witness.

    Jurors may still hear more from Depp. His team has indicated they may call him to the stand Wednesday. Both Depp and Heard have each testified extensively already about details of their toxic relationship. Also Tuesday, the celebrity news site TMZ filed an emergency motion seeking to block the testimony of a former employee, Morgan Tremaine.

    TMZ said it’s concerned that Tremaine is prepared to testify Wednesday for Depp and violate a pledge of confidentiality that the news outlet provided to a source who gave TMZ information related to the couple’s high-profile divorce.

    Heard has denied that she tipped off news outlets to the fact that she obtained a temporary restraining order after filing for divorce from Depp in 2016. Heard alleged Depp abused her in that application, and Heard was photographed by paparazzi leaving the courthouse with an apparent bruise on her cheek.

    Depp’s lawyers have said she sought publicity about her abuse allegations to falsely damage his reputation.

    Also Tuesday, Judge Penney Azcarate rejected a motion from Depp’s attorneys to toss out a $100 million counterclaim she filed against Depp. The counterclaim alleges Depp’s then-lawyer, Adam Waldman, defamed Heard when he called her abuse allegations a hoax.

    Azcarate said the bar for tossing out a claim before it goes to the jury is exceedingly high, and said there is enough evidence to allow it to go forward. She had already ruled Depp could be held responsible for statements made by his lawyer, a principle Depp’s team disputes.

  • Johnny Depp’s severed finger story has flaws: Surgeon

    Jurors had already heard from both Depp and Heard extensively — each was on the stand for four days, undergoing grueling cross-examinations.

  • ‘Jealous’ Johnny Depp kicked me over James Franco ‘affair’, says Amber Heard

    By IANS

    LOS ANGELES: Actress Amber Heard says a perceived affair with fellow actor James Franco led to ex-husband Johnny Depp assaulting her on a cross-country flight in 2014.Taking the stand for a second day as part of a multi-million dollar defamation trial, Heard cast Depp as deeply troubled by jealousy and drugs, reports bbc.com.Depp is suing Heard for $50 million over an article in which she said she was a victim of abuse, reports bbc.com.She is countersuing for $100 million.On Thursday, Heard reportedly said that much of her ex-husband’s anger was caused by his belief that she was seeing James Franco, whom she said Depp “hated”. Franco starred alongside Heard in ‘Pineapple Express’ and ‘The Adderall Diaries’.That jealousy, she claimed, led an angry Depp to repeatedly question her on a flight from Boston to Los Angeles, in which he allegedly kicked her.”He just kicked me in the back. I fell on the floor,” she said.”No one said anything. No one did anything. It’s like you could hear a pin drop on that plane.”The court also heard a recording allegedly of Depp on the flight, which Heard said showed him “howling” while suffering from the effects of drug use.Following the incident, Heard said he met her in New York to apologise and to prove he was sober and committed to change.Jurors have repeatedly heard about the incident on the flight. In his own testimony, Depp said that he took Oxycodone pills and fell asleep to avoid her.During her testimony, Depp could sometimes be seen closing his eyes or donning his sunglasses. At one point, he shook his head quietly.Heard alleged she had the fight with Depp after an argument about his daughter Lily-Rose, who was about 14 at the time.”She was so young,” Heard said. “I felt protective.”

  • Amber Heard fires PR team over ‘bad headlines’, days before trial

    LOS ANGELES: Actress Amber Heard fired her PR team and switched to a new firm after she reportedly became frustrated following a week of ‘bad headlines’ during the defamation trial brought by her ex-husband and actor Johnny Depp, a new report claimed.According to dailymail.co.uk, Heard was being represented by Precision Strategies, which she suddenly ditched in favour of LA-based consulting firm Shane Communications. She made the move in apparent hopes that she might receive more favourable coverage this week – during which time she is expected to take to the stand and testify.”She doesn’t like bad headlines,” an unnamed source told the New York Post, which first reported the news, reports dailymail.co.uk. Another source told the newspaper that Heard, 36, is “frustrated with her story not being told effectively.”The A-list trial in Virginia, which started on April 11 and is set to last another three weeks, has so far seen Depp, 58, claim he was the victim of domestic abuse during his four days of testimony – with his bodyguard on Thursday even describing in detail the wounds on the actor’s face allegedly sustained during a confrontation with Heard.The actor is suing Heard for $50 million, claiming she defamed him and ruined his career after a 2018 Washington Post article in which she described herself as a ‘public figure representing domestic abuse’, without naming her ex-husband.Heard is counter-suing for $100 million, and after three weeks of sitting silently in the courtroom during Depp’s testimony, she is preparing to start her fightback, possibly as soon as Wednesday. The PR firm switch came following several days of court testimony from Depp witnesses that saw the social-media mob suddenly turn against Heard.Heard’s credibility as a philanthropist also took a battering when it was claimed she had not donated her $3.5 million divorce settlement to charity, something she had promised publicly to do. She had apparently donated only $1.3 million and much of that appeared to have come from her former boyfriend, billionaire Elon Musk.According to Terence Dougherty, the chief operating officer of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the recipient of Amber’s ‘largesse’ of $500,000, it came from a Vanguard fund connected to Musk.Her contributions dried up by 2019, and Dougherty told the court the ACLU ‘learned that she was having financial difficulties’. Heard’s lawyer is arguing Depp abused her both physically and sexually and she hopes to make her point once she takes the stand early this week. Shane Communications is led by its CEO David Shane, who has briefed against Depp in the past.In 2017, the firm highlighted accusations made by Depp’s former business managers, The Management Group, alleging that the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star needed to hire a shrink for his ‘compulsive spending’ habit of spending $2 million per month.Depp then launched a $25 million lawsuit last month against his business managers, The Mandel Company, claiming ‘gross mismanagement’ of his affairs. One crisis communications expert told the Post that they believed the new PR company would have its work cut out in order to change the narrative.”It’s crazy to change teams in the middle of a trial like this because you don’t like the headlines,” said Lis Smith, a senior communications director for Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign.”After years of narrative building, you can’t change the public’s opinion in the three weeks when someone is suing you in a case.” Heard never wanted cameras to be allowed in the courtroom at all, but Depp’s team pushed for it, and won. Depp has even accused his ex of defecating on their bed in an act of aggression.Testimony so far has also included photos of severed fingers, pictures of feces, videos of explosive arguments and temper tantrums, and even a discussion about the Hollywood star’s penis. Depp denies the allegations of abuse noting how he brought the lawsuit in order to clear his name.Lawyers for Heard say such denials are not credible because the actor was too drunk and high to remember what occurred. The trial in the Fairfax County Courthouse runs Monday to Thursday from 10 am to 5 pm, and is set to conclude on May 19.

  • Johnny Depp’s ex-agent: Abuse cost him ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise

    By IANS

    LOS ANGELES: A former agent for Hollywood star Johnny Depp testified that Amber Heard’s abuse allegations had a ‘traumatic impact’ on Depp’s image, and cost him the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise.Christian Carino, a talent agent at Creative Artists Agency, appeared by video deposition at Depp’s defamation trial.Depp is suing Heard, his former wife, for $50 million, claiming that she destroyed his career by fabricating claims of domestic violence, reports ‘Variety’.Carino testified that it became clear, through conversations with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and CAA co-chair Bryan Lourd, that Disney had decided it could not continue to employ Depp.Carino said that the abuse claims were never openly discussed as the reason, but that it was simply “understood” within the industry.Carino was friends with both Heard and Depp, and represented both of them at various points, though he said he no longer has a relationship with either of them.He testified that Depp is “one of the finest actors of his generation”, and that has not changed despite the turmoil of his life in recent years. But he also said that the lawsuits with his former business manager, his former attorney, and with Heard have damaged Depp’s off-screen image.”I think what he was known for off-screen was a shroud of mystery of who he was, because he was not visible to the public,” Carino said.”It changed with the exposure that came with the lawsuits.”According to ‘Variety’, Carino was asked about the production of the fifth ‘Pirates’ film, in 2015, and acknowledged that Depp was routinely late to set.”I’m aware of him being tardy, but he’s been tardy on everything his entire life,” Carino said, adding that the production had figured out how to work around the issue.Carino was vague about when Disney decided not to hire Depp for a potential sixth ‘Pirates’ film, which remains in limbo, saying at first that he could not specify even the year when it occurred. The timing of that decision is a key issue in the case.Depp’s lawyers contend that it came just days after Heard published an op-ed, on December 18, 2018, in which she referred to herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse”.Heard’s lawyers argue that the decision was actually made earlier.Depp’s lawyers presented Carino with an email chain from December 20, 2018, in which Depp’s agents and publicist passed around a MovieWeb article that stated that Depp “won’t return” to the franchise.”Were we told this officially from Disney?” Carino wrote.Jack Whigham, another agent, responded, “No”.Heard first levelled her allegations in May 2016, when she filed for divorce and sought a restraining order. The restraining order was later dropped and the couple issued a joint statement, in which they stated that neither had made false claims for financial gain.According to ‘Variety’, on Wednesday, the jurors saw video depositions with two LAPD officers and a front desk employee who works at the Eastern Columbia Building, where Depp used to own several penthouses.The officers were called to the penthouses on May 21, 2016, for a report of domestic violence. Heard refused to make a report, and the officers testified they saw no evidence of injury.

  • Johnny Depp grilled about drug, alcohol use at defamation trial

    By AFP

    WASHINGTON: Actor Johnny Depp was grilled about his drug and alcohol use and coarse text messages as he took the witness stand on Thursday for a third day at his defamation case against his ex-wife, Amber Heard.

    Heard’s lawyer Ben Rottenborn spent more than five hours seeking to undermine the credibility of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star before the seven-person jury hearing the suit in Fairfax County Circuit Court.

    The 58-year-old Depp was asked about his trashing of hotel rooms and the circumstances of an incident in Australia in which the tip of the middle finger on his right hand was severed.

    Depp testified Wednesday that it was caused by a furious Heard throwing a vodka bottle at him. Her lawyer told the jury that Depp had told doctors he cut himself with a knife.

    Depp acknowledged during cross-examination that after his finger was cut he used the wounded digit to scrawl messages around the house using his own blood and paint.

    Heard’s lawyers played a video at one point of Depp slamming cabinet doors in their kitchen and pouring himself a large glass of red wine.

    “I did assault a couple of cabinets but I did not touch Miss Heard,” Depp said when asked about the video. 

    In an audiotape played by her lawyer of a conversation between Depp and Heard, she complains about having bruises on her head, a split lip and a black eye.

    Heard’s lawyers have claimed Depp would become a “monster” during drug- and alcohol-fueled benders and physically and sexually abuse Heard.

    Depp has denied the allegations and claimed it was Heard who was frequently violent during their relationship.

    Depp filed a defamation suit against Heard over a column she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018 in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”

    Heard, who starred in the movie “Aquaman,” never named Depp — but he sued her for implying he was a domestic abuser and is seeking $50 million in damages.

    The Texas-born Heard, who turns 36 on Friday, countersued, asking for $100 million and claiming she suffered “rampant physical violence and abuse” at his hands.

    Depp and Heard met in 2009 on the set of the film “The Rum Diary” and were married in February 2015. Their divorce was finalized two years later.  

    ‘Shame and regret’ 

    Rottenborn probed Depp extensively about his drug and alcohol use, including partaking with shock rocker Marilyn Manson.

    “We drank together. We’ve had cocaine together maybe a couple of times,” Depp said. “I once gave Marilyn Manson a pill so that he would stop talking so much.”

    Depp acknowledged using drugs and alcohol to “numb the residual pain from my youth,” but denied Rottenborn’s suggestion it was to excess or that he would ever “black out.”

    Rottenborn read text messages from Depp to various people in which he apologized for his behavior and sought the advice of Elton John on how to get clean.

    “Once again I find myself in a place of shame and regret,” he said in a May 25, 2014 text to Heard. “I will never do it again. I want to get better for you.”

    Depp admitted that he has taken out his anger on objects in the past but denied ever striking Heard.

    “I don’t believe I’m the only human being who has ever punched a door,” he said. “I have assaulted a couch or two.”

    Heard’s lawyers introduced text messages in which Depp used profane language about her, calling her an “idiot cow” and talking about her “rotting corpse.”  

    “Let’s burn Amber,” he said in a text message to the actor Paul Bettany, a friend. “Let’s drown her before we burn her.”

    In a text to Heard’s sister, Depp said “I never want to lay eyes on that filthy whore Amber.”

    Depp was also asked about a “heated argument” he had with Heard over his suspicion that she was having an affair with the actor James Franco.

    Testifying on Wednesday, the thrice Oscar-nominated Depp said the allegations that he was a “drunken, cocaine-fueled menace who beat women” have cost him “everything.”

    The actor said that a “couple of days” after the Post column appeared, Disney announced he would no longer appear as Captain Jack Sparrow in the blockbuster “Pirates” franchise.

    Depp filed the defamation complaint in the United States after losing a separate libel case in London in November 2020 that he brought against The Sun for calling him a “wife-beater.”

  • ‘I was demeaned, berated by ex-wife Amber Heard’, testifies Johnny Depp

    Depp sued after Heard made an indirect reference to those accusations in a 2018 op-ed piece she wrote for The Washington Post.